page_title: Albania
section_title: Biodiversity
hierarchical_section_title: Albania / Environment / Biodiversity
caption_attribution_description: I liked the cool profile. カッコイイ横顔。とっても強そうです。 [ Nikon D4, Kenko Mirror Lens 800mm f/8 DX, 1/500sec, ISO2000, Lightroom 5 ]
context_page_description: Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and maritime borders with Greece, Montenegro and Italy to the west.
  Geographically, the country displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of 28,748 km². It possesses remarkable diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea.
  Historically, the country has been inhabited by numerous civilisations such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans. The Albanians established the autonomous Principality of Arbër in the 12th century. The Kingdom of Albania and Principality of Albania formed between the 13th and 14th centuries.
context_section_description: A biodiversity hotspot, Albania possesses an exceptionally rich and contrasting biodiversity on account of its geographical location at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and the great diversity in its climatic, geological and hydrological conditions. Due to remoteness, the mountains and hills of Albania are endowed with forests, trees and grasses that are essential to the lives for a wide variety of animals, among others for two of the most endangered species of the country, the lynx and brown bear, as well as the wildcat, gray wolf, red fox, golden jackal, egyptian vulture and golden eagle, the latter constituting the national animal of the country.
  The estuaries, wetlands and lakes are extraordinarily important for the greater flamingo, pygmy cormorant and the extremely rare and perhaps the most iconic bird of the country, the dalmatian pelican. Of particular importance are the mediterranean monk seal, loggerhead sea turtle and green sea turtle that use to nest on the country's coastal waters and shores.
  In terms of phytogeography, Albania is part of the Boreal Kingdom and stretches specifically within the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal and Mediterranean Region. Its territory can be subdivided into four terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic realm – the Illyrian deciduous forests, Balkan mixed forests, Pindus Mountains mixed forests and Dinaric Mountains mixed forests.
  Approximately 3,500 different species of plants can be found in Albania which refers principally to a Mediterranean and Eurasian character. The country maintains a vibrant tradition of herbal and medicinal practices. At the minimum 300 plants growing locally are used in the preparation of herbs and medicines. The trees within the forests are primarily made up of fir, oak, beech and pine.
  In the 2010 Environmental Performance Index, Albania was ranked 23rd out of 163 countries in the world. In 2012, the country advanced from 23rd to 15th, whereas it had the highest ranking in South and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The country was the 24th greenest country in the world according to the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index. Nevertheless, for 2016, the country was ranked the 13th best performing country on the Happy Planet Index by the United Nations.
caption: The golden eagle is the national symbol and animal of Albania.
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